Particle Size Estimation Using Morphological Contour Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing particle size distribution estimation devices struggle to accurately estimate particle sizes due to overlapping and color similarities among granular particles, leading to inaccurate contour extraction and distribution estimation.
Innovation Solution
A particle size distribution estimation device that includes a captured image acquisition unit, binary image generation, corrected binary image generation through opening and dilating, boundary information extraction, and contour group information generation to discard inappropriate contours, thereby enhancing accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If binarizing is performed on a captured image to generate a binary image, then the processing is simple and fast, but the contour extraction accuracy deteriorates when particles overlap or have similar colors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies opening operation (erosion followed by dilation) as a preliminary action before contour extraction. This pre-processing step removes noise and separates closely positioned particles in the binary image, creating cleaner boundaries that improve subsequent contour extraction accuracy without significantly increasing processing time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a corrected binary image as an intermediary between the original binary image and the final contour extraction. This intermediate representation includes boundary information generated through morphological operations, serving as a bridge that preserves processing efficiency while improving measurement accuracy
2Device complexity
If the entire granular particle group is extracted as one contour, then the processing is simple, but the particle size distribution estimation accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by discarding contour candidates that satisfy predetermined discarding conditions (such as having area larger than a threshold or lacking proper boundary characteristics). This divides the incorrectly extracted entire particle group contour into smaller, more accurate individual particle contours, improving measurement precision while maintaining reasonable processing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of contour validity by introducing discarding conditions based on area, shape, and boundary characteristics. Contour candidates are evaluated against these parameters, and those failing to meet the criteria are discarded, transforming the contour extraction from a simple single-step process to a multi-criteria evaluation process that improves accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
A particle size distribution estimation device includes: captured image acquisition processor circuitry configured to acquire a captured image that is an image generated by imaging a target region including a plurality of granular particles at least partially overlapping each other; a binary image generator configured to perform, on the captured image, binarizing that converts a value corresponding to each of a plurality of pixels constituting the captured image into a first value or a second value based on a threshold value, and thus to generate a binary image; a corrected binary image generator configured to perform, on the binary image, opening including eroding and dilating, the eroding and the dilating being filtering using a kernel, and thus to generate a corrected binary image.